The Downside of Third-Party Financing

Third-party financing companies act as external lenders, advancing the cost of treatment to your patients and then collecting prepayments, often with interest. While they can make expensive treatments more accessible by spreading out the cost, they introduce several drawbacks:

  • Higher Costs for Everyone: These companies charge fees and interest, which ultimately means less revenue for your practice and a higher overall cost for your patients.
  • Lengthy Applications and Extended Debt: Patients often face lengthy application processes and payment terms that can extend long after their treatment is complete. This lingering debt can strain their budget and make it difficult for them to commit to ongoing wellness care.
  • Reduced Patient Retention: When patients receive monthly bills from a financing company, it constantly reminds them of a debt, not the benefits of their care. This focus on money can decrease patient loyalty and make them less likely to continue with wellness programs. Especially when the original program of care you recommend may be over, but their terms with the third-party financial institution may be longer. It’s extremely difficult to get them to enroll in wellness care when they are still paying for the first plan. 
  • Limited Use for Chiropractic Services: Third-party financing companies like Care Credit require financing for "packages, bundled services, and treatment plans to be completed within 90 days in a single transaction." Most need a special agreement with these financing companies to offer longer periods of care. This limits their utility for comprehensive care plans. 
  • Separate Systems: Working with a third-party financing company often requires a separate payment terminal, adding unnecessary complexity to your operations.

 

The Power of In-House Automated Payments

Automating affordable monthly payments in-house using the Auto-Debit System and creating customized service agreements with the Care Plan Calculator is the superior solution because it's cheaper for your practice, significantly better for patient retention, and more affordable for your patients. Here's why:

  • Boost Your Revenue: By processing payments in-house, you keep a larger share of your care plan revenue, directly impacting your bottom line.
  • More Affordable for Patients: This makes it easy for them to say "Yes!" to care as well as to enroll in the Wellness phase of care. Additionally, with lower overhead, you can offer more competitive pricing to your patients, making quality care more accessible.
  • Streamlined Patient Experience: Forget the complex applications and external debt. In-house processing means treatment costs are settled within the timeframe of the actual care plan. This simplifies the process for your patients and avoids the burden of ongoing payments to a third party. Again, this makes it easy for them to say "Yes!" to the wellness phase of care. 
  • Enhanced Patient Retention and Wellness: When patients aren't burdened by external debt, they're more likely to transition smoothly into wellness care. Automated debiting (via credit card or bank EFT) means they aren't constantly reminded of "owing money" and can focus on their health, fostering long-term commitment and better outcomes.
  • Seamless Transition to Wellness: When it's time to move patients to the next phase of care, they won't be held back by existing payments to a financing company. This makes their decision to continue their wellness journey much easier.

At Cash Practice, our systems are designed to help you implement robust in-house payment processing, empowering your practice and ensuring your patients can focus on what truly matters: their health.